There are few companies which are more behind RSS than Microsoft, in my opinion. Granted, a large portion of that is due to the nearly 1,000 staff members who are blogging, but still. I honestly believe that Microsoft is seeing more and more value in this space.

So, here are some clear and concise suggestions for areas which could not only use RSS to deliver benefits to users (and Microsoft); but will also push the adoption of RSS (availability drives demand, which drives availability):

Product Feeds

By providing RSS feeds for updates to products, Microsoft will get instant information into the hands of IT people, bloggers and deciision makers very quickly. Demand would easily be driven as people realise they can stay up to date on the products they are using simply by subscribing to half a dozen RSS feeds (or possibly one combined feed?).

As I understand it, each product group would need to get this moving. The Exchange group seems very keen on this as it stands right now. I’m assuming the Longhorn group will step up, what with Robert Scoble being there and everything.

Knowledge Base Feeds

As I noted earlier, the MS Knowledge Base is available via RSS. The problem is that it’s from a third party. While I’m never one to push for Microsoft to push down another company, this is Microsoft’s data. They should be providing support services and access to this information set.

In addition, one of the greatest weaknesses in the KB is the lack of White Papers. While one suggestion has always been linking to white papers from within KB articles, users could optionally subscribe to both KB and white papers on given subjects, making the white papers (fantastic resources) more readily available.

General Purpose Feeds

Microsoft could easily benefit from becoming an information source. The information is already being published in various places on the Microsoft site, having topical feeds would greatly increase this visibility, and thus consumer trust.

Feeds on security, server information, etc would be invaluable.

Security Focussed Feeds

Feeds for Windows Update (based off of Feedster-like queries perhaps?); Office Updates, SUS / WUS would be invaluable as a large part of the toolkit for System, Server and Network Admins. Information is always hard to come by, and by extending MS’s information gathering to users, relationships will quickly become forged.

Careers Feeds

While the Agents service that Microsoft provides are decent, providing more user-controlled information is invaluable. Especially since Agents weight towards titles, whereas an RSS feed could scan the ‘full entry’ (job description) giving people more jobs they could be qualified for, thus bringing in greater candidates and turning more people from Passive to Active candidates.

Other Feeds

More effective MSDN feeds, community feeds, chat feeds… The list practically never ends.

Put the power of information into people’s hands and they will use it, push it and bring more value to it.

The biggest challenge for Microsoft shouldn’t be if RSS should be used. It should be when, where and how. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon. Have a strategy, integrate it into your existing direction and use it to get the information you want to get out to Influencers out there. Quickly.

Update: It seems the XML Developer Center is a VERY interesting step in the right direction. Good move! [thanks to Dare ]